After Nashville flop, Hawks get back to work
After going 9-1-1 in their last 11 games heading into Sunday night’s showdown with Nashville, you knew the good times had to end sooner or later for the Blackhawks.
But few expected it would end like it did against the Predators.
With a thud.
A big thud.
The lights worked and the ice was the right temperature ... other than that nothing was working right at the UC for the Blackhawks, who fell 6-1 to Nashville.
“The best part about the league is you get to come back and play tomorrow night,” said Patrick Kane.
Sunday’s performance led to an unanticipated practice Monday at Johnny’s Ice House in which coach Joel Quenneville had the players going hard from the get-go.
“We didn’t have the compete level that we needed, didn’t have the urgency,” Quenneville said. “They outworked us and when that team outworks you, you’ve got no chance.”
After being on the wrong end of a shellacking like that, the question is do you forget about it and move on, or remember how it felt and use that as motivation?
The correct answer is ... depends who you’re talking to.
“That game is completely forgotten,” said goalie Corey Crawford, who was pulled in favor of Ray Emery early in the third period. “That was obviously unacceptable. The effort wasn’t there. Forget about it and move on.”
Rookie Andrew Shaw had a different take.
“I think we should remember it,” Shaw said. “You can’t go into a game like that. You have to look at it like every game is our last and play desperate.
“We’re still fighting for a playoff spot and we can’t let that one slide. We came out flat, we didn’t compete. When we got down by a few we kind of died.”
What’s your take on it, Bryan Bickell: remember or forget?
“A little bit of both,” he said. “It wasn’t near good enough. We also need to let it go and move on but it’s in the back of our minds that Coach Q and everyone else on the team wasn’t happy with our work ethic and our performance and we need to get back on track with what we were doing well before that.”
After practice, Quenneville sounded as though he had already put Sunday’s debacle in the rear-view mirror.
“That was one of those games ... let’s forget and move on,” he said.
Regardless of the motivational method, look for a better start by the Hawks when they hit the ice Tuesday night in New Jersey.
“We’re going to come out hard like we did the past few games and try to get the first one in,” Shaw said. “Bury (New Jersey) like Nashville did to us.”